Arabic Bread or Khebz

Pillows of Arabic Bread

Arabic Bread/Khubz is commonly known as pita in the west where it is usually thicker and in an oval shape. Traditional Arabic bread is flat, leavened, circular and usually about 10in/25cm in diameter although it can vary. It is baked at high temperatures causing the dough to puff and create pockets. Once cooled, the bread deflates and can then be opened around the seams and the layers used to form sandwiches/wraps, or pieces are torn off randomly to create bite-size scoopers for dips and other foods. It can also be toasted, then gently crumbled and used as a garnish on salads and stews. It is essential that Arabic bread be baked using high temperatures. It is easy to bake the bread in a conventional oven at home and this will yield successful results as long as the aforementioned factor is practiced.

Photography by Sarka Babicka

The traditional way of cooking Arabic bread is on the Saj, or a convex metal disc. It is what is called Markouk and was the bread of choice until the later 50’s although people are now going back to making it for it’s health benefits. It is something really sensational to witness; the dough is tossed across from one hand to the other, as the dough continuously stretches yielding a large, circular, and paper-thin dough that is then placed onto the Saj using a big cushion. It will then bake for a couple of minutes before being peeled off. This wonderfully precious, paper-thin bread is called khubz markouk. In the west it can be found in Middle Eastern specialty stores labeled as village bread.

Photography by Sarka Babicka

Another traditional but sadly uncommon way of baking Arabic bread is using the clay oven or tannur (also known as tandoor). The clay oven is built into the ground and the dough is slapped onto the sides of the oven, again, with the help of a cushion. Once cooked, it is then removed with a long wired hook.

In the past women would make the bread at home and the villagers would gather at each others houses to help in the baking in a rotation. However these days, fresh Arabic bread abounds in bakeries around Lebanon, thanks to sophisticated machinery and so few people still make their own bread. Thus the beautiful process of artisan bread making is really reserved to Lebanon’s villages.

Below are images of my distant aunt Saidy, in Baskinta, showing us how it’s done. Normally, she’d have used a cushion to lay the bread on the saj but this setup was rather impromptu and she’d left hers at home. She’s one of the sweetest souls I’ve ever known.

Arabic bread is a pivotal part of the Middle Eastern eating experience, where it is used interchangeably with utensils to create delicate bites, wraps or sandwiches and to help mop up prized stew juices. It’s in quite a separate league to the thick, heavy pitta breads sold in the West. Making Arabic bread at home is rewarding, and watching the air pockets develop is quite exciting. Sure, it’s not the exact texture of commercial-grade Arabic bread, but that’s precisely the point. Baking this beautiful bread is, in fact, not as hard as one may imagine: just be sure to have a well-heated oven ready before popping the dough in. Arabic bread has many uses. As well as being served alongside stews and other dishes with sauces, it can also be used in different ways. For example, you can also spread Za'atar or Wild Thyme Mixture and olive oil over the dough before popping it into the oven for a pizza-style snack or see also Spiced Lamb Flatbread Pizzas, page 107 of The Jewelled Kitchen. Triangles of Arabic bread can be toasted and then used to dip into hummus, or added to Fattoush salad. Alternatively, the toasted bread can be crushed into large breadcrumbs and then used in a dish such as Aubergine, Veal & Yogurt Crumble (see The Jewelled Kitchen page 119)

Author: Bethany from The Jewelled Kitchen

Serves: 4

Ingredients

300g/10½ oz/2½ cups strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting

½ tsp sea salt

1 tsp caster sugar

4 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp dried active yeast

Instructions

Sift the flour into a mixing bowl, add the salt and sugar and pour in the oil, then mix well with your hands.

Add the yeast to 150ml/5fl oz/scant ⅔ cup lukewarm water and stir until dissolved. Pour the water and yeast mixture into the flour and oil mixture, little by little, combining it with your hands as you go, until a ball

is formed. Depending on the age and brand of flour, you may find that you need more or less water.

Transfer the dough to a well-floured work surface and continue kneading it until it is smooth and elastic. Return the dough ball to the mixing bowl, then score the top with a knife to loosen the surface tension. Cover with a damp, clean kitchen towel and place it in a warm, draught-free place for about 1 hour or until it doubles in size.

Once the dough has doubled in size, turn it out on to

a lightly floured work surface and knock it back, then knead gently before rolling it into a log. Divide the

log into four balls of equal size, each weighing about 125g/41?2oz. Lightly flour the work surface once more and use a rolling pin to roll out each ball, re-flouring the surface as necessary. For small loaves, roll out each ball

of dough into a circle about 20cm/8in in diameter. For large loaves, roll out each ball of dough into a circle about 30cm/12in in diameter. Cover the loaves with a kitchen towel and leave to rest for a further 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 230 ?C/450 ?F/Gas 8 and place a baking sheet in the oven to warm up. Baking one loaf at a time, spray a loaf lightly with water and bake for 2 minutes until the top and edges are lightly golden (the cooking time depends on the heat of the oven and the thickness of the bread) and a pocket of air has formed. Do not cook them for longer than 1 minute after the air pocket has formed, or they will turn out more brittle than pliable. Repeat with the remaining loaves. Leaving the breads to cool uncovered will also make them brittle, so if you are not serving them immediately, cover with a damp tea towel and store in a sealed plastic bag.

The breads can be kept, wrapped, in a fridge for up

to 2–3 days or in a freezer for up to 1–2 months. Allow 20–30 minutes’ defrosting time. Alternatively, microwave briefly or bake in a hot oven for a couple of minutes.

Hi Bethany, I’ve been looking for an authentic Khubz Markouk recipe for ages and I know that this is definitely not leavened with yeast like the pita recipe you have shared here (amd which I’m eager to try as I love pita bread…!). In South Africa I have tried numerous Lebanese flatbreads from various supermarkets and I know that the paperthin bread that is cooked on the saj would have a slightly different dough. There are Lebanese women who bake these breads privately and supply to the supermarkets in unmarked plastic bags and there are no ingredients listed. I did however come across one that sid have an ingredients label and as I had suspected, there was no yeast used. Would it be possible for you to share your aunts flatbread recipe with us? My gut feeling is that it would be almost identical except without yeast. This would be greatly appreciated…!

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My aim is to try to demystify Middle Eastern food and make it more accessible. I want to change perceptions that Middle Eastern food is complicated and laborious (sometimes it can be) and get more people grappling their fear of the unknown with the cuisine. I like to cook both classical and Middle Eastern inspired dishes and try to always present them in an un-intimidating manner with easy to follow instructions.